Saturday, December 5, 2009

Detainee Claims Contact Met OBL in Afghanistan in 2009

A captured member of the Taliban claims that prior to 9/11, he met Osama Bin Laden several times and that a trusted colleague met with him in January or February of this year in Afghanistan.

He said that Osama “doesn’t stay in any one place” and that he believes he met with his colleague in Ghazni Province in eastern Afghanistan. The detainee is said to be closely linked to the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan and fundraised for the group in Peshawar.

However, the key question for me is why the Pakistanis gave the BBC access to this detainee:

“Pakistan at this time is not convenient for us to stay in because a lot of our senior people are being martyred in drone attacks,” he said.

We were given access to him twice in the past month. He spoke at length and in detail, painting a picture of close co-operation between the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

A Pakistani interrogator was listening as he spoke.

His account suits Pakistan, which maintains that Bin Laden is not on its soil, though Britain and the US think otherwise.

The Pakistanis are using his testimony to alleviate American pressure.

Given the fact that he’s in Pakistani custody and we don’t know what they may have offered him to say this (or how they may have forced him into saying it), it’s entirely possible this is disinformation.

The detainee may also be a willing participant in such a deception effort, since it’s in the Taliban’s interest to make the U.S. less focused on pressuring its Pakistani hosts.